I'm through with standin' in lines to clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth and I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house on an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub
Big enough for ten plus me
(Yeah, so what you need?)

I need a a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
(Been there, done that)

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher
And James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses, drivin' fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat

And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny with her bleach blond hair

And well, hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free
(I'll have the quesadilla, ha, ha)

I'm gonna dress my ass with the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves
To blow my money for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses, drivin' fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat

And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny with her bleach blond hair

And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial

Well, hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs that offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills from a Pez dispenser
Get washed-up singers writin' all my songs
Lipsync 'em every night so I don't get 'em wrong

Well, we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses, drivin' fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat

And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny with her bleach blond hair

And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial

150 Comments

General CommentI'm surprised at the few amount of people that actually got this right, well good for you. For everyone else saying that this song is supposed to be saying how great the celebs lives are, you are pretty far off. This is a satirical song that is mocking their lifestyles, the song is saying of how people think the life is great but in actuality it isn't. Just take a closer look, 15 cars? Nobody needs that much. "I'll get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip sync em every night so I don't get 'em wrong
Then listen to the fans tell me how damn good I am"
This doesn't sound like Nickelback was trying to send a positive message using lines like this and other certain phrasing used throughout. And also for others getting the interpretation wrong; it isn't a bad song because they are talking about sex and drugs, they are mocking it. Don't just read the lyrics word for word, do a little bit of thinking, it might help :)

General Commenti think this song is actually mocking the ridicuolous lifestyle of most celebs. no one needs 15 cars or a huge bathroom. shows how superficial and materialistic celebs are, but the average person is jealous of what they have.

General CommentThis is pretty satirical. And funny. The thing is, I do believe a lot of rockstars of today embody this kind of persona. This is a slight attack against them, but I'm not complaining. It's clever clever. :)

Call me crazy, but I think that the asides from Billy Gibbons, the guy from ZZ Top, are supposed to be the Devil speaking to someone who wants to be a star, instead of just an ordinary dude. This song is sarcastic, yes. But it basically brings up the question of how much you'd give up to be famous. Would you sell your soul for fame and fortune? Some people would. I think some people have.

At any rate, this song makes me laugh. Plus, it's as catchy as sin. I'm not a Nickelback fan by any means, but this is on my iPod!

General CommentThe people who think this song is about the gilded life-style of "rockstars" are the same people that listen to mainstream Rap and enjoy it. This song, while open to interpretation, is obviously a satirical jest at the romanticized lives of the rich and famous, particularly those in the music business. The diction or "choice of words" in this song is all one needs to reveal this meaning. An example would be the use of skinny in the line, "We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat. Skinny has a partially negative connotation. It's antonym would be fat. A word such as thin would make a much better fit if it was intended for this line to be somewhat positive. Another good example would be the line "All the good gold diggers". Regardless of the context, gold diggers is always negative. It's a derogatory term, and if you don't no the meaning, I pity you. Why even make mention to what are essentially money leeches and groupies when you are trying to give praise to a life-style?

More of the satire can be found through the song's fairly extreme exaggeration. A few examples are:
- 15 cars (no one needs that many, it's purely greed)
- King size tub that fits 11 + me (extravagance)
- A bathroom I can play baseball in (")
Anyone who could possibly require these things to be happy obviously doesn't know what happiness truly is.

Finally, there are simply too many negative references in the song for it not to be satire.
- Drugs come cheap (It's well established that drugs can ruin a person, rather than instill happiness)
- Girls come easy (a purely sexual interest in women, an example of both shallow and worthless character)
- Washed out writers (writers who are terrible, giving their songs no real meaning)
- Lip Syncing (used by those devoid of any real talent)
- Bleach Blonde Hair (beginning to be a cultural example of mindless vanity)

The song is about the gilded and romanticized life-styles that we all can't experience. The message is that, in reality, most people are more content and happy than those depicted in the song. It's about losing yourself just to live in a fantasy world of mindless entertainment and pleasures of the flesh.

I don't necessarily agree with the debated implementation of the devil in the song. I don't see much in the way of evidence supporting that the song's character sells their soul to accomplish these ends.

It took me all of one time through the song to know what it meant. If somehow this didn't come to you, You're one of the many mindless drones out there who don't listen and feel for meaning. It really isn't challenging, but I you likely don't care. You're rather content with your shallow enjoyment of this art venue. You need the slow, melodic rhythms of rap and other main stream music to enjoy it, which is pathetic when you realize how much more complexity and depth lies in the music you mindlessly enjoy.